Department for Education

Department for Education: Official Hospitality

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much his Department spent on hospitality in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.

Will Quince: The exact information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Africa and Middle East: Visits Abroad

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many overseas visits were undertaken by Ministers from her Department to (a) the Middle East and (b) Africa in each year since 2010.

Amanda Milling: Details of ministerial commercial travel are published quarterly on gov.uk. Please see the link below for the FCDO return.https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fcdo-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings#full-publication-update-historyThe latest data was published on 14 July with an accompanying Written Ministerial Statement made in both Houses of Parliament on 15 July:https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2022-07-15/debates/2207152000007/GovernmentTransparencyAndAccountability#Earlier travel data from 2011-2021 for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and from 2009 for the Department for International Development can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/minister-data and https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings-with-external-organisations-in-the-department-for-international-developmentThe 2010 FCO information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Morad Tahbaz

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when she last made representations to her Iranian counterpart on the case of Morad Tahbaz.

Amanda Milling: On 27 July the Tahbaz family confirmed Morad has been released from Evin prison on furlough and is at their home in Tehran. This welcome development follows intensive diplomatic efforts at all levels, by the UK and our partners. Morad Tahbaz is a UK-US-Iranian tri-national, and we will continue to work closely with the United States to secure his permanent release and departure from Iran. We urge the Government of Iran to end its practice of unfairly detaining British and other foreign nationals, and we will continue to work with likeminded partners to that end.

Department of Health and Social Care

Hospitals: Young People

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide funding for the creation of tier four young peoples' hospitals outside of the South of England.

Gillian Keegan: We have confirmed funding to build 40 new hospitals, including two in Dorset which will deliver mental health services. We also launched a competition for a further eight hospitals, a proportion of which will be mental health hospitals. However, there are no plans for new hospitals specifically to deliver tier four children and adolescent mental health services. NHS England commissions tier four children and adolescent mental health services from over 50 mental health providers, which operate within National Health Service and independent hospitals in England. There are no current plans to expand the provision of such services.

Arthritis: Medical Treatments

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report entitled Inequality of access to advanced therapies for patients with inflammatory arthritis: a postcode lottery? published in Rheumatology Advances in Practices in November 2021, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of that report's finding that 59 per cent of clinical commissioning groups have a limit on the number of advanced therapies they would commission.

Gillian Keegan: No specific assessment has been made. Since July 2022, the majority of services for people with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, including arthritis, are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs), which plan the provision of services subject to local prioritisation and funding.In England, the National Health Service is legally required to make funding available for all treatments recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), usually within three months of the publication of its final guidance. This includes any recommended advanced therapies. In addition, we are working with NHS England to implement the Best MSK Health Improvement Programme. The Programme addresses MSK conditions in primary, secondary and community services to reduce any variance in patient access, outcomes and experience.

Medicine: Training

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of Physicians’ 2021 consultant census findings that 52 per cent of advertised consultant posts in England and Wales went unfilled, whether he is taking steps to increase the number of medical school places.

Maria Caulfield: We have funded an additional 1,500 undergraduate medical school places each year for domestic students in England – a 25% increase over three years. This expansion was completed in September 2020 and has delivered five new medical schools in England. In addition, the Government temporarily lifted the cap on medical school places for students who completed A-Levels in 2020 and in 2021 and who had an offer from a university in England to study medicine, subject to grades.

Chronic Illnesses: Ethnic Groups

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to improve knowledge on identifying and diagnosing conditions that are (a) specific to and (b) disproportionately affect Black women.

Maria Caulfield: Through the call for evidence for the Women’s Health Strategy, we received responses which highlighted limited research into women’s health issues and a lack of diversity in clinical trials. We also received feedback on the need for improved education and training for healthcare professionals on women’s health issues and how health issues in the general population can affect women differently.The recently published Women’s Health Strategy aims to work with the National Institute for Health and Care Research to encourage high quality research in women’s health, support women to lead research studies and participate in trials and maximise the impact of this research. We will work with the General Medical Council, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, Health Education England and others to ensure health and care professionals receive adequate training in women’s health, particularly for those women experiencing health disparities.During the implementation of the Women’s Health Strategy, the recently appointed Women’s Health Ambassador for England will ensure that population groups experiencing disparities are represented.